Believe In Me: The Moments We Live For
by flashgunner
Summary: It's Christmas time in at the resistance base! What can we expect from everyone?  Takes place after my old story Believe in Me... so spoiler alert, i suggest you read the fic first so you are not confused.


(I just want to make this clear to everyone because I've gotten it a lot, I never (and still don't) view Harpuia and Leviathan as brother and sister. If I did, then I would not have had romance between them because I am not an advocate of incest. I explained once before, I saw them as being designed using X's DNA, but not by the same person, therefore, to me, they are not brother and sister. This little part is not a rant I just wanted to clarify this. Thanks kindly.)

story

_thinking_

"talking"

LOUD

**EMPHASIS**

(Me Talking)

enjoy!

* * *

Believe in Me

Written by: Flashgunner

Christmas Special: The Moments We Live For

...

White puffy flakes of snow continuously fell by the third story window of the resistance base lounge. A faint sigh sounded from upon one of the couches, belonging to someone stretched out atop the cushions with their eyes fixated on the window.

"The snow is so relaxing…" A female voice came from the couch.

"Alouette?" A voice called from directly above her. The blonde teenage reploid turned her head to see Ciel floating above her.

"AH!" She yelped and rolled off the couch. "Ciel… why do you always do that? You're going to make me blow a circuit…" The human cyber-elf flipped around to float upright.

"I thought you'd be used to it by now…" She giggled at her Reploid daughter's flustered state. "Anyway, come downstairs! The guests will be here any moment!" She touched down, making her cyber wings disappear and grabbed hold of Alouette's arm as she stood up.

"What? What time is it?" She glanced around for a clock, but someone had taken the lounge clock down for some reason.

"It's 4:30, we moved the plans ahead an hour." Ciel explained as she pulled her to the stairs.

"What? But… is Zero back with the tree yet?" She questioned.

"Well no… I don't know what's taking him so long…

…

…

"DAMMIT!" Zero yelled between the snow pelting his face as the pine tree awkwardly fell off his shoulder again. "How do you hold these things without breaking them?"

…

…

"I'm sure he's just trying to find the perfect tree." Alouette assured Ciel. "By the way, who all is coming?"

"Oh you know…" Ciel began. As they made it down to the main lobby where resistance soldiers were running all about putting up decorations. "A lot of the soldiers have friends coming in… but we've got the first floor lounge all to ourselves along with Harpuia and Leviathan… oh yes and Harpuia and Leviathan are bringing Fefnir…"

"WHAT?" Alouette shrieked. "Fighter's going to be here? Oh god!" Alouette broke back up the stairs, leaving a confused Ciel behind.

"Alouette where are you going?" Ciel called after her.

"I have to get ready!" She called back as she disappeared at the top. Ciel stood still for a moment… but then put two and two together.

"OOOOOH!" She smirked. "My little Alouette is all grown up…" She giggled as she made it into the lounge where Cerveau was standing on a ladder putting up shingles. Two lights were circling around him.

"Now Netto… please hand me another nail…" He commanded. One of the small lights lowered to the ground and picked up a nail from a box below and moved towards Cerveau's hand. "Thank y…" Before he could grab it, the light edged away. "Oh come now don't be naughty…" Cerveau turned to the light and grabbed again. The light dodged him again and let out a tiny giggle. Suddenly the two lights turned to Ciel as she entered and they both rocketed towards her, the one dropping the nail as it did. Cerveau made a grab for it, but missed and watch it clatter to the floor. He sighed and turned to Ciel; the two lights were circling her and cooing happily.

"How are you my little ones?" She lifted her hands and one light plopped into each.

"Your two little cyber elves are quite mischievous…" Cerveau commented as he stepped down from the ladder.

"Aw, Netto and Meiru aren't so bad… they're just young…" She looked back and forth at the small lights, the two cyber elves she made from scratch with Zero; Netto, who was designed by Zero and gave off a soft blue light. And Meiru, designed by Ciel and named after the cyber elf Ciel was forced to discard man years ago. She gave off a bright pink light. "They just like to play… and I'm sure they're excited about the holiday…" As she finished the two cyber elves bounced up and down in her palms. "Oh! That reminds me…" Ciel let the two elves float again and drew out of her pocket, two bushels of mistletoe. "Hold still you two… With a few inches of string she tied a piece of mistletoe to each of them.

"Oh no Ciel…" Cerveau watched in disbelief. "You're just asking for them to cause trouble now…" Ciel giggled.

"Don't be so stingy Cerveau… tonight is about having fun!" She pouted at him.

"Heh…" He chuckled. "I know."

"Oh?" Ciel glanced out the window and saw movement towards the main entrance. "Ah is Zero back?" She trotted over to the door and opened it, but quickly stood aside as a reploid dressed in a red winter coat and hat burst through the door and took a battle stance.

"Hey! Which one of you losers is Zero? I'm gonna fight you!" The teenage reploid yelled as he threw off his winter gear, revealing a red t-shirt with jeans and red hair spiked up. A hand reached forward and landed atop his head.

"Settle down Fighter… Don't go around looking for fights, it's Christmas for god's sake…" The hand belonged to none other than Sage Harpuia, who set down the boxes he held in his other hand to removed his viridian coat as he restrained his son. Behind him Fairy Leviathan was picking up the coat and hat that Fighter had thrown to the floor.

"Aw c'mon dad!" He whined as he tried to wretch free of Harpuia's iron grip.

"No." The sky warrior plainly put before letting go. Leviathan walked up beside him with Fefnir's winter gear draped over her arm.

"We're here to have fun… not tear up the place; you do plenty of that at home so behave yourself." She scolded Fefnir as he slumped over and groaned.

"This is going to be sooooo boring…" Ciel couldn't help but chuckle as the whole scene took place and finally addressed them.

"Hello you two, it's good to see you again!" Her words caused both Harpuia and Leviathan to turn towards her.

"Ciel!" Leviathan immediately gave her a big hug, and Harpuia gave a nod and a smile.

"Are we too early?" Harpuia asked as he glanced about at all the soldiers still running to and fro with decorations and presents. Ciel shook her head reassuringly.

"No worries, everyone in the base has different plans… we claimed the downstairs lounge to ourselves so you can head in there." She motioned to the door a few paces from her.

"Where is Zero?" Fairy asked as she tried to nudge Fefnir along, who was still sulking. Ciel was surprised.

"How did you know he wasn't here?" She asked quizzically. Harpuia chuckled.

"He's a very powerful reploid… Our sensors could never miss him… so it's obvious when he's absent." He explained as Ciel led them into the lounge. They walked over to the circle of couches and sat down. Fefnir, with nothing better to do, went to bug Cerveau.

"Well…" Ciel scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "I sent him to find a tree a while ago… but he's still not back I hope he's okay…" She suddenly was cut off by a giggle from Leviathan. "Oh? Is something funny about that?" Ciel raised an eyebrow as she turned to her.

"In all honesty he's probably just being a man…" Leviathan began.

"Oh boy, here she goes…" Harpuia said as he rubbed his forehead, earning a playful smack on the shoulder from her.

"…If he's anything like this guy here." She motioned to Harpuia. "He'll take a simple task and turn it into a complicated problem… If I had to guess, he's either trying to find the most perfect tree, even though the past fifty he looked at all fit the bill, or he found one, but went so far out of his way that he's taking forever to get back."

""Like this guy?"" Harpuia frowned at her.

"Shall I remind you about the last time I sent you out to gather something?" Her words made him twitch.

"Well, you just did…" He said with a sigh and slumped down in the couch. Leviathan giggled and turned back to Ciel.

"See? Nothing to worry about, he'll be back s…" Both of the guardians suddenly turned their heads towards the windows.

"Speak of the devil…" Said Harpuia as he rose from his seat.

"Is it him?" Ciel bounced up from the couch and ran to the window. The snow made it a little hard to see, but she could make out a green cone shape that seemed to be rising, moving a few inches and falling every few seconds.

"That's him alright, the energy is unmistakable… but… what is he doing?" Harpuia watched the odd pattern of movement as well.

"I'm just happy he's back!" Ciel squealed and rushed to the main entrance, which was already being open by a few soldiers. Harpuia and Leviathan followed her out and the three watched as the legendary reploid, clad in a puffy red winter coat and jeans with his hair seemingly frozen straight, drag a tree three times his size through the door and drop it on the floor.

"Finally!" He yelled out as he threw his hands in the air. However he didn't have much time to rest because he was jumped by Ciel from the side.

"Heeeeey!" She giddily called out. "Wow! You found a great tree…" She looked the tree up and down as some resistance soldiers helped to stand it up. It was about twelve feet tall and very full, but with plenty of spaces for decoration.

"Yeah, but it was loads of fun getting it here…" Zero complained while trying to shake the snow from his hair.

"Here…" Ciel giggled as she ran a hand through zero's long blonde hair to clear the snow and break apart little frozen bits that were stuck together.

"So what was giving you so much trouble?" Leviathan asked as she surveyed the tree. Zero was a reploid, so carrying a tree shouldn't have posed a problem.

"It… uh…" Zero blushed a little and looked down. "I couldn't get a firm grip on it, it kept slipping…" He admitted bashfully. Leviathan smirked and glanced at Harpuia, who was also sizing up the tree.

"At least you didn't…"

"Enough on that!" Harpuia cut her off, recognizing her mischievous tone of voice. Leviathan erupted into laughter. Zero looked back and forth between them confusingly, but Ciel grabbed his arm and pulled herself towards his ear.

"It's nothing, just a joke we had going a moment ago." She whispered.

"Ah." Zero acknowledged before removing his coat. He was wearing a red sweater underneath. "Now how about we get things along…" At that moment Netto and Meiru rushed over and hovered in between them. Zero glanced up and saw the mistletoe dangling from them and chuckled. "Oh you didn't…"

"Uh huh!" Ciel wrapped her arms around Zero's neck and kissed him full on the lips, which he returned without question. Although brief, it was satisfying and the two cyber elves above them squeaked in delight.

"I'm not complaining, but you do know we're never going catch them tonight now…" Zero laughed. Ciel did the same.

"They'll come around when they get tired… we should help Cerveau set up, he's practically done all the decorations himself!" She led him to the door with Harpuia and Leviathan not too far behind. The instant Zero stepped through the door a roar came from across the room.

"THERE YOU ARE ZERO!" Zero's eyes went wide as Fefnir leapt over the couches and dove towards Zero. Ciel quickly jumped clear as the two collided, but in an eye blink Fefnir was on the floor face down and Zero sat atop his back.

"Good to see you too Fefnir…" Zero joked as he smiled at Ciel. "Hey Harpuia, I found your kid." He spoke over his shoulder to the two former guardians behind him.

"Yes you have…" Harpuia's tone was serious and annoyed. The teenage reploid managed to look up from the ground into the eyes of his mother and father.

"Crap…" He said before the incoming storm. Ciel managed to pull Zero away before the two could begin chastising their exuberant son.

"It's going to be an interesting Christmas huh?" Said Zero as he flashed a smile to Ciel. "By the way where is Alouette?" He wondered out loud as he scanned the room. Ciel covered her mouth to muffle a giggle and whispered to him again.

"She went absolutely nuts when I told her Fefnir would be here… She's still upstairs getting "ready"." She made the quotation sign with her fingers. Zero didn't quite get it for a moment, but it suddenly hit him.

"Oooooh." He smiled and laughed. "Hard to believe she used to be that innocent little girl reploid huh? Now she's taking after you." He poked fun at Ciel.

"No, I think I was twice as energetic about you…" She teased as her cyber wings appeared and she floated beside him. They both turned to see Leviathan force Fefnir to the couch.

"Now sit down and BEHAVE! Sometimes I wish you would act like the age we remodeled you to be!" She fumed as Fefnir crossed his arms and sank into the couch. She grumbled to herself as she went back to Harpuia's side near the window. As if on cue, Alouette appeared in the doorway from the stairs. She had removed her typical Ciel-replica outfit and was wearing a black one piece dress with a white sweater draped over it and white long stockings with black slip on shoes. Her hair had been obviously shampooed and brushed to no end because it looked extremely straight and orderly. She spotted Fefnir on the couch and quickly shuffled over towards him. He was too busy brooding to notice her come around the side. She suddenly jumped on the couch right beside him.

"Hi Fighter!" She said in a very excited girly tone while giving him a hug. Fefnir looked mortified when he laid eyes on her.

"Oh **NO**, not you!" He began to try and free himself, but she had a tight grip on him. "HELP I'M BEING RESTRAINED!" He yelled out. Zero and Ciel watched the playful confrontation and both stared incredulously.

"Although… she may not be quite as hesitant about it as I was…" Ciel managed to say with an awkward laugh.

"Well they were both originally child reploids… maybe we should give her some advice… Fefnir too… they look like seven year olds in late teenage bodies…" Zero joked as he tried not to burst out laughing at how desperate Fefnir looked. He sighed contently and glanced out the nearby window. _What a night this is going to be…_

…

…

In the middle of a snow covered valley, there sat a single snow covered tree atop a small hill with a boulder beneath it. As if out of thin air, three figures in brown cloaks appeared among the falling snow, all moving towards the boulder. They came to a stop below the tree and one of them removed the hood of his cloak to reveal a slightly battered silver and black headpiece around a scarred face.

"Here we are Colonel…" One of the two behind him began. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"You asked him that three times already, are you deaf or just forgetful?" The other spoke rudely.

"Well excuse me, I'm only checking on how he's feeling…"

"I'm fine…" Colonel stated. "I know I said I'd like to leave my past behind… But she isn't part of my past… she is part of me… I would like to spend this Christmas with her… like I always had in the past…" He stepped towards the boulder and sat down beside it.

"Very well…" The cloaked figures turned away. "Don't forget that our old power systems don't show up on new scanners… stay right here until morning and we'll come find you." Colonel only nodded, as if he was already too absorbed in the moment to hear anything else.

"We already lost him, let's go." The other figure turned away.

"Always in a rush…" The other followed him and the two disappeared into the mist of the falling snow.

Now alone, Colonel took a deep breath and leaned against the boulder. "Hello sister… I'm sorry I've been gone for so long…" He paused and opened his eyes, staring up at the tree. "I haven't spent Christmas with you in a long time… sorry about that… I've been through a lot lately…" He glanced out towards the falling snow. "I should thank you too… even after death… it was your memory that allowed me to live… Zero held his blade at his side instead of my neck… and spoke of a promise to you… and because of that… I was spared…" He closed his eyes again. "Thank you Iris… Merry Christmas…"

…

…

"You think he'll be fine down there?" The two figures emerged from the falling snow upon a cliff top.

"Holy shit, what's wrong with you? He's fine!" the rude cloaked figure spat back.

"Yikes man, calm down… I'm just worried because, you know he's still not very mentally sound… I didn't want him to go crazy because of something from his past… Be a little worried about someone else for a change will you? I swear one of these days that scowl of yours is going to scar your own face…"

"Oh can it… if I had a bolt for every time you mentioned how I never smile I'd be able to build a city…" The figure removed his cloak to reveal a black helmet with two large fins on it. The fins were colored orange on the inside and his face had two purple stripes below his eyes. "Sometimes I swear you annoy me more than your little brother used to Blues…"

"Heh…" Blues removed his hood to reveal a red helmet with black shades attached and a yellow scarf around his neck. "I've always had a knack for making you over think things, Forte…" Forte only scoffed at the comment, leaving Blues to chuckle to himself for a moment. "So…"

"Now what…?" Forte interrupted.

"Don't be stingy… I was just wondering if you had any special plans for Christmas." Blues' comment cause Forte to burst into laughter.

"You're joking right? This stupid holiday?"

"Heaven forbid you actually decide to visit your father once or twice." Blues shrugged as he laid out the suggestion.

"Feh… my old man doesn't deserve a single bit of my presence…" He crossed his arms and looked away.

"When's the last time you visited him?" Blues asked, curious.

"I haven't seen him since he reactivated me."

"What?" Blues yelled out incredulously.

"Is there a problem with that?" Forte growled at him.

"Oh no, no… it's just funny… I thought **I** was a loner… but I used to always visit my father from time to time… not for very long, but hey…"

"Yeah well, your father isn't an old fool." Forte ended and continued to stare off into the distance.

"Well, you may not be doing something… but I am…" Blues turned and began walking away.

"Oh? Where are you going?" Forte felt interested suddenly.

"Nowhere in particular." Blues added with a slight chuckled before disappearing into the mist. Forte turned away as if it didn't interest him at all, yet as he stood there and went over the conversation he just had, he turned and looked off into another direction. After having an intense mental battle between two different options, he growled and faced in the opposite direction of Blues, disappearing as well.

…

…

"C'mon hurry it up already!"

"Okay, okay! I'm not hyper every moment of my life like you!" Two robots of ancient design walked into the middle of the hidden lab, one of them clutching a large black metal box. At one end f the lab was a large view screen, currently off, and on the other was a red hologram capsule.

"You think he'll like it?" The red robot with a golden boomerang on his head asked anxiously.

"For the seven thousandth time Quickman… he'll like it!" The blue robot with the shuriken emblem on his forehead yelled while throwing his arms up.

"SHH! Shadowman! You'll wake him up!"

"You two do realize that I don't sleep." A voice came from behind them. Shadow man dropped the box at his feet with a clang and Quickman zipped in front of it in attempt to hide their sneaking. The hologram of the balding old man with spiky hair jutting out behind his ears stood within the capsule looking down towards two of his remaining creations. "You also know I'm not blind… what is that and what were you two going to do with the monitor?" Dr. Wily asked, interested in what sort of mischief the two were up to. Quickman sighed and stepped aside to reveal the black box sitting on the floor. "Is that a server box?"

"Yes…" Quickman answered as Shadowman reached down and pulled three chords from the box, drawing them over to the screen, and plugging them into the back.

"We thought about it being Christmas day and all… and seeing how things have been peaceful for a few years now… we thought, why not do something ourselves?" Shadowman explained as he checked all the wires.

"It's Christmas? Wow it has been a long time since I've celebrated it… in fact I can't even remember… it's too far back…" His rambling thoughts were interrupted as the box let off a small hum and the screen came to life. It remained white however, leaving Wily waiting in anticipation.

"Okay guys… on my count!" Quickman suddenly said. "One… Two… Three!" In an instant the screen divided itself into multiple smaller windows and within each small square a different silhouette appeared. The shadows turned into recognizable figures, around fifty of them to be more precise.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS DAD!" Every figure shouted at once. Wily could not believe what he was seeing; in fact he was sure if he still had a body that he would have shed a tear. There in front of him, one in each window stood every single master class robot he had ever created. From Metalman to Solarman.

"Oh… my…" A smile crept onto his old visage. "You two…" he turned to Quickman and Shadowman. "You two found all my master data?"

"Yeah… there was a lot of digging to do… but when we figured out we could reconstruct their minds and memories at least, that gave us this idea…

"Hey!" A voice came from the monitor, it belonged to Starman. "You guys have been with him for years! Move over, we've got catching up to do!" He yelled earning cheers and hollers from all of Wily's "boys".

"Yes… yes we do… and…" Wily suddenly stopped and glanced over to the door on the opposite end of the room. Someone was there, he looked closer and recognized the familiar outline of the shadow, and he'd never miss those head fins. The figure noticed him looking as well, gave a quick two finger wave and disappeared back into the doorway. Wily smiled even more. "Yes… we have much to talk about, for much has happened… now who wants to talk first?" He purposely asked to get his old creations to start arguing. "Ah… I've missed this… Merry Christmas my sons…"

…

…

"There we go!" Zero hopped down from the ladder and waved his hand towards Harpuia, who plugged a cord into the wall. Everyone stood back as the tree illuminated with a bright glow of rainbow lights reflecting off the radiant ornaments that were recently put on the tree. The presentation was met with a few second of clapping, oo's and ah's.

"But it's just a stupid tr…OW!" Fefnir was cut off by Harpuia smacking him upside the head.

"Quiet." The former Neo Arcadian Guardian put as simply as he could.

"Mom! Dad's hitting me again!" He whined.

"Don't ruin the moment honey…" Leviathan said without even looking at him.

"It's beautiful…" Ciel said to herself as Zero joined her side and slinked an arm around her waist. "I'll never get tired of celebrating special occasions with everyone…" She continued as she turned her head to Zero.

"It's a fine reminder of what we went through to make all of this possible." He added. She nodded in agreement.

"So…" She cutely bobbed back and forth as she addressed him. "Want to get your present?"

"Oh? A present?" Zero's attention was sold.

"Of course silly, it's Christmas…" As she teased him Netto and Meiru floated past them and towards the couch. Fefnir was still sulking on one end, but Alouette had sat down on the other end.

"Uh oh…" Zero smiled, foreseeing exactly what was going to happen. Alouette noticed the elves immediately and watched as they stopped right in between her and Fefnir. She blushed madly when she realized the situation she was in, but Fefnir took absolutely no notice. Alouette kept glancing at him, hoping he would turn and see the mistletoe, but he kept forward with the aura of grumpiness swirling around him. After a lot of waiting and endless fidgeting, Alouette threw herself at Fefnir and kissed him. He, of course, freaked out and tried to pull away, but he had an unfavorable position being wedged in the corner of the couch cushions.

"ASSAULT!" He managed to yell breaking free for a moment. "I'M BEING MAIMED!" He yelled with a brief second respite. Laughter erupted all around; even Harpuia almost couldn't hold it back. Ciel looked a bit disturbed.

"I might have to talk to her about subtlety…" But she glanced at Zero, who had a smile on his face. She was enjoying not only the company of others, but his company greatly. But she had planned this out, and the current location was proving too lively. "Here, come with me…" She tugged on his arm, pulling him towards the stairs. She led him up to the fourth floor, where Zero's old room had become their shared room.

"Privacy? I thought you said presents, not "activities"" Zero snidely remarked while giving her a wild smirk. She giggled and waved him off as she disarmed the door lock.

"Oh we'll do plenty of that later…" She said with a grin. "But I want this to be special…"

_As do I…_ Zero thought, eager to give Ciel her surprise gift as well. She locked the door behind them and Zero motioned to the bed, where the two sat down side by side.

"Okay…" Ciel began while patting her knees with her hands. "Ready?"

"Whenever you are…"

"Well…" Ciel reached underneath the bed and produced an eight by eight inch box wrapped in festive wrapping paper.

"Went the old fashioned route I see…" Zero joked as he accepted the gift, earning a bright smile from her.

"Now I did a lot of research…" She started to explain as Zero picked at the paper until it began to rip. "I managed to put this together, the design is old, but many parts were easily substituted…" Zero completely unwrapped the brown box and opened it. He froze as he glanced upon its contents with an expression that was hard for her to read. "But… with all the resources easy obtainable… I was able to make a replica of…

"My old Z-Saber… from the Sigma Wars…" Zero slowly and gingerly lifted the golden hilt out of the box. It was perfect, the same cylinder shape, the wider end where the energy focus of the blade was located, and at the bottom, the small red spike decoration below the hilt's end. Ciel watched happily as Zero smiled and activated it. Even the blade was perfect. Instead of the flat triangle energy concentration beam like his current saber, the old model was a perfect cylinder that closed at the top with small sparks of energy emanating from where the hilt created the blade. "Ciel…" His voice startled her.

_Oh… I hope he likes it… I didn't stir any bad memories did I?_ She fretted, knowing Zero's tragic past was still heavy on him, despite how far he had moved on from it.

"This is… amazing!" His face was covered by a massive smile as he swished the saber about in the air, watching the blade bend as he moved it. "You even got the old style of function down… Ciel… I love it… I really missed this saber…"

"I'm glad you like it!" Ciel happily commented while letting her feet sway slightly off the side of the bed.

"Thank you so much…" Zero recalled the blade and placed the saber beside him on the bed before leaning over and wrapping his arms around her for a tight hug. "And now… I believe it's my turn…" Zero said in a quick way that he knew would startle her. He spread his palms and held them and inch apart from one another. A small green aura appeared around them with Ciel's eyes curiously locked to the source of the glow.

_What is he doing…?_ She thought as the aura turned from green to yellow and he moved his hands further apart.

"I do believe…" Ciel broke her focus and glanced towards him. "…that there was something you never told me… about the day you and the resistance stumbled upon my holding chamber…" Ciel tipped her head to the side slightly in confusion. "I talked to Alouette recently… and she brought up something I had never heard about…" The glow in his hands became bright. "That you lost a very close friend…" Those last words struck home.

_No… he didn't…_

"With a little help from Cerveau for the location, body, and memory… and slight manipulation of my energy compiling system… I can finally give back to you something you sacrificed to awaken me…" On that note there was a bright flash of light, and a green cyber elf floated in between his hands. "Merry Christmas Ciel…" Zero smiled as he sat back. The Cyber elf took its physical form with a small red body and three strands of red hair sticking up off its forehead. It was someone Ciel recognized.

"PASSY!" She jumped up from the bed, activating her cyber wings in her excitement. The cyber elf spun in the air and yelled back.

"CIEL!" The cyber elf flew right to her and to two embraced each other tightly while squealing like children. Zero was pleased by the reaction. Ciel couldn't have made it any more obvious that she was overjoyed. Ciel, in fact, had tears in her eyes. Passy was her helper and closest friend since even before the formation of the resistance, the day selfless elf used her power to release Zero, while historical for the resistance and where it lead them, was also one of the most devastating moments of her life. After the two hugged each other and yelled each other's names for more than three minutes, Ciel let go and dove at Zero, knocking him down onto the bed, and crashing her lips against his. While sudden and surprising, Zero did not challenge her. He fell right into the affection, returning every bit of it with his own. Passy nearly shrieked when she saw the sudden movement and hid in embarrassment. She had been gone for a long time; it would take a while to catch her up. Ciel eventually let up and propped herself slightly above Zero. Her hair hung down to the bed, melding with his to create a golden sea for them to lie in atop their mattress.

"I take it you like it?" Zero chuckled as she stared into her eyes.

"How do you do it?" She asked with a slightly frantic tone. "It doesn't matter how long I've known you… you never fail to become more and more amazing with each passing day…" She looked very eager for the two of them to get lost within each other's love, so he kept it short and simple.

"When it comes to you Ciel…" He paused to reach up and tuck a stubborn strand of her hair behind her ear. "…I can always find new ways to show how much I love you…"

"Oh my god…" Ciel was bright red in the face. She was a sucker for Zero's romanticism. "I love you… I love you I love you I love you…!" She went in for another heavy kiss. Zero was happy to oblige. Once they decided to come up for air, they stared into each other's eyes like they had on more occasions than they could count.

"Merry Christmas Ciel…"

"Merry Christmas Zero…"

…

…

Upon a mountain top far from the general location of all the festivities a snowstorm had just subsided. While the mountains were caked with newly fallen snow, the fog from the storm had dissipated, creating a wonderful view of the world below, blanketed with snow. The mountain top was strange, for it had a six by four foot ledge that jutted out only a few feet from the top. A crimson hand reached up and grasped this ledge, before its owner pulled himself up upon it. He was covered in a brown cloak from head to toe, but a yellow scarf blew in the wind behind him. He sighed and leaned against the mountain, crossing his arms and tapping his feet.

"Well, well, well… this is an unexpected surprise!" A blue hologram appeared next to him. It was of a stout old man with a great white beard donning a white lab coat. "It's been a long time Blues… why the sudden visit?" His voice, while old and refined was sincere and gentle.

"It's Christmas… I was feeling festive so I decided to pay my father a visit…" He removed the cloak from his head to reveal the red helmet and black shades. Dr. Light chuckled.

"I do suppose Christmas is as good a time as any to spend with family…" The two remained silent for a few moments after that, just standing side by side and admiring the beautiful view the mountain top was giving them. "Say Blues…" Dr. Light began with a slight tone of worry in his voice. "I know I've asked you millions of times… but are you sure you don't want me to fix the energy imbalance in your system…? It would only take a moment…"

"Heh… I'll give you the same answer every time Father… I'm invincible… and it's that imbalance that reminds me of that every single day…" He trailed off.

"But Blues… isn't it… painful? The way your body's energies contradict each other puts serious stress on you power core and functions… I still cannot fathom how you've been alive so long…"

"You're right… it does hurt… but that's how I want it…" Blues put plainly. "Why do you think I call myself invincible? Not because I'm perfect or because I've got power… it's because every day of my life is a constant struggle with my spirit… there have been times when I feel like giving up, but I always remind myself what I stand for and what I've promised myself to do…" Blues shifted his weight on the mountain as the hologram of Dr. Light sighed.

"You've become so wise Blues… sometimes reason is the best way to overcome your weaknesses…" They paused again. The wind changed directions and blew Blues' scarf in the opposite direction. "You know… I actually owe a lot to Albert…" Said the old doctor. Blues shifted his eyes to his father. "I created robots to better mankind… but in the end it was one of his creations that finally set the world straight…" He began to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Blues asked out of confusion.

"Could you imagine… how much different the world would be today… had Albert failed to convince me to study robotics instead of computers? It was such a long time ago to be thinking of that… but if we put it into perspective… it caused everything to happen the way it has…" Now it was Blues' turn to chuckle.

"So are you telling me that Rock, Roll, and I could've been computer programs?"

"An odd thought… wouldn't you say?" Blues looked away, But Dr. Light continued. "Blues… tell me… did I do the right thing?" Blues glanced back to his father. "By creating robots that could think and act for themselves… did I doom to the planet to centuries of war? It's easy to just point the finger at Albert… but the fact remains that the two of us **together**, were responsible for creating you, and thus creating robots with souls…"

"I sure don't regret it…" Blues cut in for a moment. Dr. Light laughed.

"Well it's easy for you to say… you wouldn't have existed otherwise… just sometimes I feel that the world would have been a much more peaceful place had I never even touched the possibility of artificial life…"

"That's enough Father…" Blues interrupted him. "The actions we take and the paths that we walk in life are spoiled by negative afterthoughts… You decided to create me and other robots because you believed in the future… and that you could have a hand in making the world a better place. By creating us you breathed new life into the world… it may have led to conflicts, but you couldn't have predicted that… it may have led to wars but without your creations those wars may have destroyed the world. In fact, if you hadn't taken up what others had tried and failed… nobody would have ever experienced the greatest thing to ever happen to the world…"

"Zero…" Dr. Light stated for his son. Blues smiled and nodded.

"So you see… you doubt yourself without looking at what you've actually done for the world… A long life is something that humans are not blessed with… some come and go without ever having their voice heard… But the day that you activated me influenced the events of the next few centuries…" Blues turned to face him directly. "Don't short sell yourself Father… you took leaps and bounds far beyond what's expected of anyone… for that alone, you deserve praise…" He turned away.

"Thank you Blues…" Dr. Light smiled and faced the mountaintop view. "It warms my heart to hear such profound words from my own son… It is clear now why you've been so resilient despite your unbalanced systems… Life is full of twists and turns…if you spend too much time worrying about the simple things directly involving you… you miss what's going on around you…"

"Exactly…" Blues put his hood back up. "Why would I let a stupid energy imbalance destroy me? I'd miss all the fun stuff that's going on." He joked with a laugh.

"Blues?" Dr. Light called to him before he could disappear. The prototype robot turned to his Father one more time. "It was nice to see you again… like I said… there is no better way to spend Christmas than with family… Take care… I expect to see you again someday…"

"Heh..." Blues removed his hood again, but this time reached up and removed his helmet from his head, revealing short, messy brown hair and deep blue eyes. "You can count on it…" He leaned back and fell off the edge. As he fell he spun around and replaced his helmet and hood. Touching his feet down to the snowy slope, he slid down the mountain gracefully until he was out of sight.

Dr. Light watched his oldest son disappear and smiled.

"Blues… I may be your father… but I'll never understand where you acquired such character… you've never played hero, you've never been the one to solve conflicts… but you've always been the one ready to right what's wrong... to influence those on their paths…" His hologram began to flicker. "It's good to know that long after my death… that you continue to look after the world with a watchful eye… I'm proud of you my son…Merry Christmas…" The hologram disappeared, returning him to his hidden lab.

…

…

The word "family" takes on many forms. To some, it is the people to whom you are born with as mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters… To others, it is the people stand by you, who will protect you, who will die for you… it can also be those who live with you, share common goals, and work with you to achieve them…

Whatever your situation may be… family is what makes life worth living… They stick by you through good times and bad… through ups and downs…

They provide shoulders to lean on… they can share your burdens… they can ease your pain…

But most of all… they are always there for you. No matter what kind of family you have, they will always be there to create memories and celebrate good tidings… you never know when one will go out of their way to do something special for you… never miss a second… live every minute like it's your last… every hour should be cherished…

Because you never know, when an unforgettable memory will be created…

These are the moments we live for…

To all my readers…

Thank you…

You are like a second family to me…

Merry Christmas!

-Flashgunner.

* * *

Happy holidays to all...


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